“While COVID-19 remains a clear and present danger, climate change is no less of a pressing crisis”, religious warn in letters to UK, EU and African Union
Religious leaders recommit to “reconciled, united, democratic and hospitable Europe” in online meeting with European Commission vice-president
Catholic peace group alerts that in its current form new funding instrument “risks fuelling conflict and human rights abuses around the world”
In major joint message. EU prelates urge policymakers “to build up a different model of economy and society” in wake of pandemic
Church relief group – along with over 30 Church and civil society organisations, 42 academics and 45 members of the European Parliament – calls on European Commission to establish legally-binding minimum income scheme
COMECE and Justice & Peace Europe call on Brussels to implement a “people-centred”, “sustainable” and “peaceful” EU Arctic policy
Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant representatives and politicians lament in webinar that 11 million Syrians need help, with 80% of people there living below the poverty line
Victims’ only crime was that “of dreaming”, denounces superior general Sister Neusa de Fatima Mariano as Vatican paper ‘L’Osservatore Romano’ deplores “endless” migrant “massacre”
Quoting Pope Francis, President of Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue insists fundamentalism “not due to religion, but to misinterpretations of religious texts”
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich warns on publication of blasphemous cartoons: “There cannot be absolute freedom… freedom of expression must take into account others’ views”
Livestreaming catechesis once again, Francis calls on Catholics to “be very attentive to the prescriptions of the authorities to defend ourselves against this pandemic”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin urges EU Church “not to remain on the sidelines” in social reconstruction post-COVID-19
EU Bishops’ president says Europe “called to build a future for the whole world”, deplores migrant pushbacks on Greece’s external borders: “Surely policies must change”
On gender equality, “numbers alone are not enough”: insists Vatican representative to OSCE Monsignor Janusz Urbańczyk
Ecumenical delegation urges German Presidency of EU Council to solidarity, speed in recovery plan: “A delay would negatively affect the most vulnerable members of our societies”
“Europe, find yourself! Rediscover your most deeply-rooted ideals. Be yourself!”, Francis writes in letter to “weary and listless” continent “possessed of little hope”
COMECE Working Group on Ethics calls on EU, member states to ensure “affordability, sustainability and security” of medical and pharmaceutical supplies
Urges member states of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to implement Pope Francis’ integral ecology, “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded and protecting nature”
“This new encyclical is a call for a new way of living human relations: not only on paper, not only by words, but with our daily actions”, says COMECE secretary general Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto
“We accuse ourselves for not standing to our beliefs more courageously, for not praying more faithfully, for not believing more joyously, and for not loving more ardently”, reads the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt
The Archbishop of Luxembourg and president of the EU Bishops warns nationalistic responses to COVID have “the explosive power to smash the EU”
The Old Continent again records the global Church’s largest fall in number of priests, major seminarians and women religious
“It is a violation of human rights to force people to be in a concentration camp”, denounces Marie Doutrepont, who has witnessed first-hand the “shame of Europe” on Lesbos
Church leaders from across the island of Ireland have appealed to the UK and the European Union to “act with urgency and generosity to end the economic and social uncertainty” over Brexit and to secure the best foundations for their evolving relationship.
On September 23rd, the European Commission presented the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, composed of 12 documents, including several legislative proposals, which will now be negotiated by the European Parliament and EU Member States.
In view of their recent Plenary Assembly, the Presidents of the National European Bishops’ Conferences prepared for the meeting by completing a questionnaire on “The Church during the COVID-19 pandemic” with information from their respective Bishops’ Conferences.
“Any closure to others in order to defend ourselves, any individual interests, to the point of profiting from misfortune, is against personal dignity, against the community: ultimately, it is against human rights”, the bishops of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) have warned in a message after a plenary assembly.
“Let’s welcome migrants with humanity, fraternity and solidarity. Let’s give them a place at our table”, said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE, on the eve of the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated on Sunday 27 September 2020.
German Catholic Workers have thrown their support behind a Europe-wide push for an unconditional basic income.